Alex Smith’s future

With the passing of yet another NFL season comes a dawn of a 49ers fan tradition, of sorts. It is a momentous time, when all gather together embracing the reality of another season’s departure. It is the beginning of the offseason, a time in which the recounting of blessings takes a back seat to the recounting of lost time, and even worse, lost wagers. It is the revival period, indeed, when all 49ers fans gratefully proclaim: “At least I’m not a Raiders fan.”

And yet, this offseason is different. The tradition is altered because nothing else is. That is, the 49ers will undergo no changes, so to speak. The team, in its entirety, is likely to stay intact. Such quality is ineffable. I mean, what do you call it when your team has a chance to build upon its previous success? Whatever it is, I have not name for it. It is not in my vocabularly, but obstinate is.

Obstinate might just be an apt word to describe those Faithful who have not given up the oldest, most dogged tradition of them all: the Sacrifice of Alex Smith.

Every year, the huddled masses divide. On one side, those who believe in Smith; on the other, those who do not. The arguments are stale. The fighting, lugubrious. The talk radio, unexciting.

But, tradition is tradition. To not engage in this discussion would leave us discussing what, exactly? The Republican Primaries? Talk about stale and unexciting. The Susan G. Komen controversy? Been there, done that. NASCAR? See “The Republican Primaries.”

In all, there is little that the anti-Smith crowd can argue. His season was a stark improvement. His playoff performance was (kinda) stellar. He was, for all intents and purposes, a very good quarterback. And, what’s more, he’s only going to get better. Here’s why:

05. He has yet to reach his prime.

Smith, at 27, still has plenty of room to grow. In fact, according to Stefan G. Hrdina and Paul M. Sommers of Middlebury College, “as quarterbacks learn the plays in a team’s playbook and develop the ability to decipher defenses, their performance should increase with age” (my emphasis). While this is not ground breaking, by any means, the fact that Hrdina and Sommers’s study found that modern QBs don’t reach their prime until their 31 years old might be. This number is up slightly from a similar mid-90s study, which found 29.4 years to be the prime age for QBs. But, given advances in health and medicine, that number is on the rise.

This could both be good and bad news for some 49ers fans. On the one hand, Smith still has ample time to continue his improvement. On the other hand, that time will likely come while quarterbacking the 49ers.

Research suggests that while pregnancy (and eventual parenthood) causes women to change viscerally, it causes men to change intellectually. Specifically, according to Craig Kinsley, Professor of Psychology at the University of Richmond, and Kelly Lambert, chair of the psychology department at Randolph-Macon College, fatherhood stimulates areas of the brain that are responsible for problem-solving. The biggest transformation occurs in the hypothalamus, in which the external stimuli (the baby) increases the production of vasopressin, which translates to better problem solving skills, as well as a calmer response to exterior stressors.

In what two skills did Smith vastly improvement? While five 4th quarter comebacks speak volumes, I’ll leave it you to decide.

According to Grantland’s Chris Brown, Harbaugh’s offense has eliminated the “complex ballet of synchronized adjustments” necessary when adapting to blitzes. In short, Harbaugh has simplified Smith’s decision making.

What’s more, Brown alludes to Walsh in passing, noting that Harbaugh’s not mimicking Walsh’s West Coast Offense as much as he is Bo Schembechler’s power running game. Still, Harbaugh is mimicking Walsh in ways that further simplify Smith’s decision making.

In a lecture entitled “A Method For Game Planning,” Walsh discusses scripting plays. According to Walsh, the 49ers wouldn’t “script” plays so much as they would “rehearse” the entire first half. In doing so, Walsh believed that the quarterback’s (and team’s) decisions would be “clinical” and “objective.” The goal was to avoid decisions in times of “desperation,” when one needs to make “very calculated decisions.”

Harbaugh, by his own admission, scripts the first 38 plays. It stands to reason that the preparation throughout the week would mirror that of Walsh’s. With that, it is apparent that the offensive philosophy in terms of play-calling and preparation is more conducive to Smith’ intellectual strengths.

To read the other two reasons to be optimistic about Smith’s future, click here.

About the Author

A resident of California, East Bay Sports Guy (otherwise known as Scott Preston) often spends his time wearing v-necks -- sometimes deep, sometimes not -- and watching teams that play sports together as a team. You can follow Scott @SportsAnxiety.

San Francisco 49er's Need To Sign Peyton Manning to a 2 Year Deal Plus 1-Option as the Competing QB For The Starting Position Against Alex Smith. Peyton Wins, Alex is MAD But He Wins with 2 full years of learning from a great QB and 3rd String QB Koppernick Can learn the Old Fashioned and correct Way. Sign Peyton. Try Him Out after a Physical and Don't Let Him Leave. SF Is His New Home. Please Open the Check Book For Peyton and Alex. It Can Be Done!!!!

I wouldn't be so sure major changes won't happen for the 49ers...We could see a whole new crop of recievers,Frank Gore isnt getting younger and that hip was the worst kept secret in the NFL.
I do think Harbaughs too much of a coach to let Smith just fall back to his bad old days..and Koppernick is far too rough to take the team anywhere. A tougher schedule will test Smith too.
Still,it all goes back to Harbaugh..its all on him for any success..he's their MVP. Jed,Trent,Alex,all are mired in mediocrity forever if not for Harbaugh.

I think that, as fans, we want a whole new crop of WRs, but I'd be surprised if we see a drastic change. I just seems out of character. Of course, the character could change if they believe their window of opportunity is closing. I guess we'll see.

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